Personal goals in social roles: Divergences and convergences across roles and levels of analysis

Most contemporary personal goal research aggregates across goals, perhaps m asking important differences between goals. We assessed this risk by examin ing both similarities and differences between the goals that participants p ursued in five important social roles. Previous relevant findings (Cantor, Norem, Niedenthal, Langston, & Brewer, 1987) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) were used to predict between-role differences in goal a ppraisal dimensions. Although theoretically meaningful differences were fou nd across child, employee, romantic, friendship, and student goals, and als o across within- and between-subject levels of analysis, all goals were ess entially the same in one important way: Making longitudinal progress in the m predicted positive change in accompanying role-circumstances and role-sat isfaction (excepting friendship goals). This indicates that researchers do not necessarily lose information by aggregating, and affirms that goal-atta inment is generally desirable.